


A Mind That You Could Recognize

by forgetmenotjimmy



Series: Doing House [5]
Category: House M.D.
Genre: Boss/Employee Relationship, Depression, Drinking Games, Episode: s06e14 Private Lives, F/M, House Finally Finds out about Chase's fantasies, Love Confessions, M/M, Making Out, Not Actually Unrequited Love, References to Sex, Swearing, The Lord of the Rings References, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-03 06:56:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21175286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgetmenotjimmy/pseuds/forgetmenotjimmy
Summary: When Chase makes a surprising confession, House has to reevaluate both his relationship with his longest standing employee and his own feelings.





	1. Looking Across the Gulf

**Author's Note:**

> I hadn’t intended to include so much of ‘Fellowship of the Ring’ movie and yet it happened. You don’t need to have seen it but the references will make more sense if you have. Also spoilers for some things that happen in it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're alone, you've been alone your whole life. When you read that book you were hoping that somewhere, underneath all that talk of God, there would be a way of thinking, a mind that you could recognize. You wanted what we all want… To look across the gulf and know there's someone else like you. – James Wilson: S06E14: Private Lives

The sky was dark outside and the after-work hours hush cocooned House’s office in quiet. Everyone else had left when Chase went through the connecting door and stood in front of House’s desk.

"I don’t expect anything.” Chase stated, trying to keep his breathing steady.

House was packing up his rucksack and quipped back. “Good, because I don’t have any more lollipops.”

“You don’t have to say anything-”

“Ever?”

Chase’s mouth clicked shut. Obviously House was in a mood; this had been a bad idea.

House saw his expression and waved a hand. “Sorry, do go on.”

Chase took a deep breath and said in a rush. “You’re the only person in the world who knows me and I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate that.”

House opened his mouth, that sharp glint in his eyes, so Chase interrupted. “Can we skip the witty comment and just get to the part where we pretend I never said anything?”

House’s brow furrowed. “You assume I won’t have any meaningful to say?”

“I don’t expect anything from you.”

“So you’ve said. Why now?”

Chase studied him a moment before explain shortly. “The speed dating thing. I realized that I didn’t want to call any of those women, for a lot of reasons, but the main one was they wouldn’t understand.”

“Wouldn’t understand your deep and beautiful soul?”

Chase didn’t dignify the quip with an answer, instead just staring at House, trying to see if he was having any meaningful reaction. As he watched, House’s expression changed. “Whatever you think you see in me, you don’t.”

That was almost cute, Chase thought.

“When I married Allison, I thought she’d make me a better person. I thought that she was my chance at a normal life.”

House waved a hand, voice still flippant even as his eyes remained serious. “I’m not really a pep talk kind of guy; go to Wilson, he’ll-”

Chase’s lips twitched upwards.

“I know. Why do you assume I don’t? I told you, I don’t expect anything from you. I’m doing this for me.” House’s eyes narrowed but he remained silent as Chase sighed. “When she left, after…I realized that I would never have that but it wasn’t the end of the world.”

“Flattering.” House deadpanned. “You’re talking about me, right?” The cogs were still turning behind his eyes though.

Chase finished. “She wasn’t right for me but that’s okay. One day I could find someone to be with. I don’t know, saying it to someone else, makes it real.”

“You want my agreement of that realization? You want to start a club for losers?”

“Well, I know how much you like knowing things.” After a beat, he saw a flicker of recognition. So House _did_ remember that conversation. Interesting.

Taking his cane, House walked around the desk and up to Chase. “What’s this really about?”

“You can’t tell?”

“A question with a question, really?” House rejoined, frustration hiding beneath the flippancy.

Chase couldn’t help the smile. “That’s three.”

Then he smelled House’s body soap and felt himself react. This close, House saw immediately. He froze and Chase gulped.

“Yeah.” He said simply, acknowledging that House’s realization was right.

To his mild surprise, House’s instant reaction wasn’t self-satisfaction but confusion. “You’re _that_ lonely?”

Chase blinked. “This isn’t new.”

“Aren’t you a little old to go back to fantasies about your boss fucking you?” House responded, a little more sure-footed as he revealed he knew about Chase’s dirty day-dreams. Chase wasn’t surprised exactly, he’d suspected that House had known about his highly inappropriate feelings at the beginning, but neither of them had ever directly acknowledged them.

“You think I ever stopped?”

“Don’t tell me that _both_ of you were in love with me.”

Chase swallowed at the mention of Allison and said simply. “I’ve been drawn to you ever since I met you. Half the time I don’t know how I feel and I’ve decided that it doesn’t matter. You’re important to me and you make me feel less alone, just by being you. You don’t need to-”

House interrupted. “You’re telling me this so you can move on. So you can stop, ‘being drawn to me’.”

Chase forced himself to shrug, the movement awkward. He murmured hoarsely. “Unless you give me a reason not to.”

It was House’s turn to swallow. He didn’t say anything, just running his eyes over Chase’s face.

“Well…” House began and then stopped. “Goodnight.”

He limped past, just catching Chase’s soft reply.

“Goodnight, House.”

…

_I want you to trust people._ Nolan had said. He should have been more specific. House trusted a lot of people – to meet his expectations. He trusted Wilson to care about his feelings and try to fix his behavior and by extension his life; meaning that he would only freely share things that didn’t cut too close to the bone. Cuddy, he knew, would also try this, though she also had to cover her ass and the hospital’s ass (surprisingly smaller than her own), so there would always be the danger she wouldn’t go along with his schemes.

His team he expected to follow his orders unless they disagreed. Then they would do whatever served themselves best, like everyone else. Despite growing out of needing House’s approval, Chase was still morally flexible – see Dictator Murder – and could be called upon for unorthodox tasks. House was aware that Chase found him genuinely amusing, he didn’t huff laughs or try to smother smiles out of obligation, and thought House was an interesting person; but this…This was unexpected.

He found himself talking to Nolan about it.

“So Chase came on to me last week.” A minute raising of the eyebrows, not bad. Nolan indicated with his hand and House obliged. “Which was flattering and also really annoying.”

“Annoying?”

“I mean how did I never see this before? Of course I knew he’d probably had some inappropriate thoughts when he first started working for me, due to his humungous daddy issues, but now? He’s had years to grow out of that.”

“Grow out of it? Or get to know you enough to no longer be attracted to you?”

House shook his head. “This is not low self-esteem talking. You haven’t ever met him; he’s like a golden retriever crossed with an underwear model. Trust me, he has no problem pulling whoever he wants.”

“Well, based on his actions, I hazard the guess that he’s interested in you.”

“No, I’m just the stand-in for his father. He’s not really interested.”

“You believe that he is confused?”

House scoffed at Nolan’s question and thought a moment before venturing. “Well, he also said, I was the only person who ‘understood’ him and he was ‘drawn to me’ or something.”

Nolan’s brow furrowed. “Why did you describe it as ‘coming on’ to you? It sounds like his declaration was emotional, not sexual.”

“His pupils dilated when I walked closer to him, his interest is definitely sexual, at least in part. Sex is all hormones and base instincts; it’s fairly simple to deal with. Emotions…well, you know.” House shrugged, before continuing, voice more sure. “He’s just lonely after the divorce. I’ve been a constant in his life for years so he’s looking to me for…I don’t know, safety. Right?”

Nolan was considering him thoughtfully.

“Right?” House insisted impatiently.

“How do you feel about him?”

“He’s my employee and 20 years my junior. Plus, I contributed to the breakdown of his marriage so…” Nolan just tilted his head slightly and House took his point. “I’m not un-attracted to him but, I’d never really considered it seriously. See the aforementioned reasons.”

“And emotionally, how do you see him? Just an employee? Friend?”

House snorted. “I don’t know…he’s just: Chase. We went bowling once but are we friends?”

“Do you respect his opinion?”

“His medical opinion?” Nolan just gave him a look and House sighed. “Yes, I have been known to follow his suggestions from time to time.” He thought about Chase’s help with the Amber/Wilson issue and advice about how to get Foreman to stay.

“And do you enjoy his company?”

House considered. Of all his fellows he would choose Chase first if Wilson wasn’t available, but would he deliberately seek out time with him? He related this to Nolan who nodded slowly.

House snapped. “This is pointless! Even if we turned out to be the love of each other’s lives, he’s my employee!”

“It is not pointless to work out how you feel about him, especially as he has confessed his feelings.”

“I don’t have any feelings for him.”

“Uhuh.” Nolan’s skeptical response was very irritating.

“I don’t!”

“‘Feelings’ don’t have to mean romantic feelings.”

House thought for a moment. “I don’t _not _like him.”

Nolan nodded, mouth set like he was trying to keep in a smile. “How long has Chase worked for you?”

House said automatically. “Seven years in September, well, not counting the year he was working as a surgeon.”

“Employee or not, seven years is a long time to know someone. It would be strange if you were simply apathetic towards him.”

“I said: I don’t _not _like him.”

Nolan’s not-smile was getting irritating. “Well, alright, I suppose that is something.”

House grumbled as Nolan went on. “I assume you’ve seen him since…”

“We’re both pretending it never happened.”

“Well, why would I expect anything else?”

House shrugged but otherwise didn’t respond to the sarcasm. He waited for Nolan to go on. And waited. Frowning, House looked at his psychiatrist and became wary of the thoughtful expression behind the steepled fingers.

“What?”

“This could be good for you.” Nolan held up a hand to halt House’s biting response. “Wilson is a great friend and Cuddy a good supporter, but it never hurts to have more people in your corner; people you can turn to.”

“You think I should befriend one of my employees? One who just confessed his utterly non-platonic feelings for me?”

“It may be unconventional, but I can’t think of a better word to describe you.”

“Most people would say ‘genius’,” he considered and added honestly, “or ‘jerk’.”

“Greg,” Nolan was serious now, “he’s survived being in your employ for close to seven years and apparently has had these feelings for a long time. I think the chances of you driving him away are pretty slim.” House’s jaw ticked as he fought the urge to lash out to cover up the psychologist’s bullseye. “You don’t have to initiate anything you don’t feel comfortable with but if you are right about Chase being lonely after his divorce, then some friendly company might do you both some good.”

“I’m not going to lead him on.”

“You are both adults. As long as you firmly establish that you only want a friendship, you shouldn’t have any problems.”

House stared into the middle distance, remembering Stacy’s tear-stained face. Sometimes your intentions weren’t as important as the results of your actions.

“I’ll think about it.” He conceded, ignoring Nolan’s stupid knowing eyes.

…

“A little bird told me that you are an uneducated heathen.”

Chase blinked, half-way through slinging his bag over his shoulder, and turned to see House not quite looking at him. Once again they were alone in the office. Several weeks had passed since his confession. They’d both pretended it had never happened. Alison had come and they’d shared their last dance, had goodbye sex and signed the papers. Although Chase had accepted his dream for that life was over, he still felt better making it official. It had been nice. Bittersweet, but nice. Chase finished lowering his bag onto his shoulder and raised an eyebrow.

At his perplexed look, House explained. “You’ve never seen _Lord of the Rings_, which is surprising, seeing as it was filmed in your home country.” No less confused, Chase completely ignored the accidently-on-purpose mistaking of where he’d grown up and grunted.

“And?”

A minute breath in and then House was saying.

“I won’t allow any of my team to be so woefully ignorant about homoerotic elves.” Chase opened his mouth but House saved him from having to actually come up with a reply. “I have the DVD. I assume your whoring can wait for a few hours.” Chase’s mouth hung open. He actually hadn’t lined anything up for that night, planning to be boring and do chores with something mindless playing on the TV. Was House really offering…?

“Uh…”

House coughed. “Purely a platonic evening, for your benefit, because anyone who hasn’t seen the ‘Citizen Kane’ of fantasy movies-”

“Okay.” Chase accepted, throat dry. House nodded and Chase’s brain kicked itself into gear enough for him to realize that House was nervous.

“Good. You can follow me.” House turned and Chase followed. On the drive over, Chase fought to keep himself calm. This was _not _a come on. House wasn’t interested in men, let alone his foppish employee of six years. Wilson was currently dating and House was lonely. It was like last time. Chase should just be happy for the invite. If only he could control his heart-rate.

“Shoes off. Wilson is a neat freak.” House ordered as they came in. Chase obeyed even as he noticed House did not bother to take his own shoes off.

“They out?” Chase asked casually.

House grunted in response. “Some fancy food testing thing. Probably going to spend hours talking about bouquets and bodies of kale or something.”

Chase didn’t comment on the bitter edge to House’s tone, nor on his seeming surrender to Wilson’s new relationship. The similarity to the Amber situation panged a long forgotten part of Chase’s mind. He decided against mentioning it, even as he was curious whether House has the same thought. They settle on opposite ends of the couch, each with a beer and a tension in their shoulders. The film started and they watched. Fantasy wasn’t really to Chase’s taste but he gamely followed along through the intro: a dark, elegant voice explaining the events before the main plot.

When the man turned away in the volcano, House scoffed. “Why’d he let Isildur go? Elrond’s an elf, he could totally drag him back and throw the damn thing in.”

Chase blinked and then turned his head slowly towards House. After a beat, House met his gaze and read his expression. “What?”

“Oh my God. You’re a nerd.”

Huffing, House shook his head. “Knowing the character’s names does not make me a nerd.”

Chase shifted, turning to see his host better. “No, no, no. It’s more than just knowing their names; you’ve_ thought_ about this.”

House gave him a side-eye and ordered. “Just watch it.”

Chase’s lips ticked up a little but he turned back around and obeyed dutifully. They made it through the set up in Hobbiton, all the singing and partying, and then Bilbo disappeared. Despite himself, Chase was intrigued. He almost didn’t notice House’s little smirk as Chase leaned in and paid real attention.

After Bilbo gave Gandalf the Ring, Chase leaned back and said without thinking. “So Hobbits are better than humans?”

"Well, a lifetime of eating, drinking and being merry would make anyone a fulfilled person, wouldn’t it?"

Chase frowned at the wistfulness in House’s voice. He ventured gently. "I would have thought that life would be boring."

House looked over, features still. After a beat, his eyes fell to his beer bottle and he murmured. "Yeah."

Swallowing, Chase took a moment to think about that. The film pulled him in again and it wasn’t until Gandalf was kicking everyone into shape at the Council meeting that Chase made the connection: a lone man, smarter than everyone else in the room, with friends perhaps, but no home, always roaming, always travelling from one crisis to the next…

"Let me guess, at the end Gandalf retires to the Shire."

House’s brow crinkled as he dissected Chase’s statement. Finally, he asked. "Why do you assume that he gets to retire? He’s a wizard, not exactly a regular occupation."

"He deserves peace."

"Careful. I can still rescind my offer." House warned mildly. Pressing back against the couch, Chase wiggled a bit to get comfortable and took another pull of beer. It was a fantasy and what little Chase knew about them made him completely unprepared for Gandalf being dragged off the ledge, falling into the depths of the mountain. _Fly, you fools. _His last words were even an insult. To his embarrassment, Chase’s chest began to ache a little.

"Now who’s the nerd?" House taunted.

"Shut up." He shot back pathetically. House made a show of throwing over a box of tissues; aiming and tossing it artfully. Chase glared and slapped them down, sending them bouncing off the coffee table and onto the floor.

"I’m hungry." House declared a little while later and they raided the fridge for some of Wilson’s leftovers. Chase felt slightly guilty for about five seconds before reasoning that Wilson must expect it on some level and wouldn’t be too inconvenienced. They ate in front of the end of the movie, Chase begrudgingly admitting that he hadn’t hated it. It was a Wednesday, so they decided against watching the second film. Instead, as Chase put on his coat, House threw out casually. "Chinese with the next one?"

Chase hesitated a moment before allowing himself a warm smile.

"Yeah, sounds good."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t believe that Chase is House 2.0 but they are very similar and think in similar ways. So in another universe, why couldn’t they be together? Also, I watched the medieval fair episode again and when Chase revealed he didn’t know who Frodo was I realized that someone had to correct this travesty, why not let it be House?  
So I originally planned this to end in smut but then both of them got shy so it didn’t happen. I am planning some more chapters but will need to figure out where to go from here. House/Chase is endgame for sure.


	2. You're Alone

They finished the trilogy in as many weeks: one film each Wednesday. The awkwardness still lingered but neither ever brought up stopping. House watched Chase closely during the scene in which Gandalf returned from the dead, only to be disappointed to learn that the cheeky thing had researched the plot and already found out all the twists.

House grumbled audibly but Chase just airily reported. “Forewarned is forearmed.” At the sour expression, he added charitably. “It’s still engaging.”

House had then switched them to scotch. The ending of the movie was a little fuzzier as they’d drunk quite a lot – House had insisted as the build up to the battle bored him. Again they had ended up eating together and spending a pleasant time talking about random, non-consequential things.

No one at work seemed to notice any change in their behavior in between viewings, even though both of them couldn’t help but question if this was signalling a development in their relationship.

For the last movie, House suggested a drinking game: he would drink whenever Frodo said ‘Sam’ and Chase would drink whenever Sam said ‘Mr. Frodo’, both of them drinking when Gollum would say his own name. By the end, they were both quite drunk. Chase had been trying to ignore the smell of House’s body soap and the rash of stubble over his jaw for at least half of the movie, forcing himself to keep looking back at the screen. If House had noticed this, he didn’t mention it.

“I thought it ended already.” Chase murmured as the camera panned to show Samwise’s smiling family. He was slouched into the couch cushions, eyes heavy. House was also half-curled into the couch, legs crossed on the coffee table and arms crossed.

“Nope.” House replied helpfully.

Chase groaned and rolled his head to the side, bringing one leg up to steady himself as his spinning head went too far down. Ending up with his forehead on his knee, he huffed and whined. “Is it over yet?”

House snorted and ran a clumsy hand through Chase’s hair. “Wuss. This isn’t even the extended edition.”

Too distracted by the fingers against his scalp, Chase didn’t reply; just hummed and wiggled until his head was on House’s thigh. House opened his mouth to make a teasing comment about Chase’s neediness but then closed it again. It wasn’t like it was a hardship, sitting there stroking the other man’s hair. In fact, in the privacy of his own mind, House could admit that it was kind of nice. The film ended and he didn’t protest that Chase missed it. They stayed like that until House needed to pee. Reluctantly, he roused the sleepy one and successfully deposited him back to a sitting position. Chase blinked and rubbed his eyes.

“Be right back.” House informed him quietly.

Chase didn’t reply. When he came back, Chase was trying to put on his jacket but had gotten tangled. Chuckling, House limped over and helped him out. When they finished, Chase looked a little more sober but not by much.

“Thanks.” He breathed and House realized suddenly how close they were standing. He could faintly smell the alcohol on Chase’s breath and part of his mind told him to step back, send the man on his way. But he stayed where he was.

“We could watch more?” Chase asked, the uncertainty in his voice burrowing uncomfortably into House’s chest.

“Yeah.” He replied quietly. A slow smile spread across Chase’s face and House tried to remember the last time he’d seen that exact look of happiness.

“I like you.” Chase declared almost childishly.

House’s heart fluttered nonsensically. “You’ve said.”

Then his face grew more serious and House frowned, cupping Chase’s cheek as if to hold onto the smile.

“No one likes me.”

House just blinked, confused. Expression completely crumpled, Chase’s eyes began to shine. “No one’s gonna come.”

Beginning to worry about the disjointedness of Chase’s speech, House asked softly. “What are you talking about?”

Chase sniffed but explained.

“My funeral. It was going to be Cameron and maybe her family and some friends,’ his voice cracked and he choked out, “but now there’s no one…”

His head bowed as he sobbed and House ended up guiding him to lean against his chest, one hand supporting Chase’s elbow, the other settling in his hair. Dismay washed over him. How had he missed this? How could such dark thoughts have been haunting his friend all this time and House hadn’t noticed? His leg ached but he ignored it in favor of panicking about how to fix this. What the Hell could he say? _One day you’ll find someone new? You’ll get a second chance? _Chase would never be convinced by meaningless platitudes and House was still trying to find healthy relationships himself, too confused to even mean any pithy remarks.

Suddenly, Chase pulled away, wiping his face and turning away. “Sorry, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” House offered dumbly, feeling cold without Chase’s body pressed against his. “I worry about the same thing.”

Getting his breathing under control, Chase forced his gaze up and said earnestly. “You have your mum and Wilson and Cuddy, and us. Plus all the patients you helped who you didn’t piss off too much. A full church. Guaranteed.”

“You help people too.”

“Yeah, I help by drawing blood and you know, just throwing out duds for you to knock down.”

Frustrated, House snapped. “You really think I’d keep you around if that’s all you do?”

Chase looked at him, searchingly and House recognized that expression, except usually it was being directed at case files. Something boiled over in his chest; House took Chase’s face between his hands and kissed him. Chase froze for a second, before relaxing, leaning into him. After another moment, his lips parted and House’s mind switched off; everything becoming sensation. Chase’s face was a little damp and they were both far from precise with their movements, but they still managed to clutch at each other, pulling flush together and exploring each other’s mouths. House’s body was fizzing, hands roaming restlessly over the warm and toned body which was exploring him at the same time.

“House.” Chase half-moaned, half-breathed. “I need…” He trailed off as House began sucking the base of his neck, nudging his shirt collar out of the way. The keening cry he made pushed more blood into House’s cock and his hips thrust reflexively. Chase’s hand pawed at his face and managed to bring their foreheads together, gasping. “I, need, bathroom.”

House’s fingers tightened where they’d been gripping Chase’s hips and he swallowed, head clearing.

Reluctantly, he let go and Chase held up a wavering finger. “Hold on.”

He staggered off and House collapsed onto the couch, leg throbbing. Recovering his breathing, he rubbed his leg and tried to keep up with his whirling thoughts. This was a colossally bad idea. Damn Nolan for convincing him to try this. Chase was going to get hurt. Oh God, could Chase really handle a rejection right now? House didn’t have a choice. He couldn’t lead him on.

When Chase returned, he looked a lot less drunk and had cleaned his face. He cleared his throat, watching House warily from the threshold.

“So I’m gonna go.” Chase said awkwardly.

House nodded, avoiding Chase’s gaze. Chase went and put on his shoes, explaining he’d already ordered a taxi.

He paused before leaving, saying uncertainly. “When we’re both sober we should probably talk about this.”

“Yeah, I’ll pencil that in. Blursday at 13 o’clock good with you?”

Mouth turning down, Chase replied.

“I don’t want to stop watching movies with you.”

House’s jaw remained firm. Chase’s pout deepened and he added. “There must be lots of things I haven’t seen.”

Finally looking up, House cursed the pulse near his heart that made him say. “I suppose I could show you the Tarantino boxset sometime.”

A smaller-version of the happy smile returned and House turned away before he could be even more stupid. Chase left and House closed his eyes. Damn.


	3. What We All Want

House paced outside of Nolan’s office, anger boiling just under his skin. He argued his way in after the receptionist and Nolan just sighed when informed that he’d be squeezing House in before all his other appointments that day.

“You’re not my only patient, you know.” He said uselessly.

“Well you might have another one now, due to your incompetence.” At Nolan's eyebrow quirk, House bit out. “I kissed Chase.”

Nolan paused in taking off his coat, looking up at House who was still vibrating with energy. “Oh.”

“Oh? That’s all you have to say? This is a disaster!”

“When did this happen?”

“Last night, we were drunk – Lord of the Rings drinking game, never do it. And he was crying and I wanted him to stop crying so I…” He trailed off, waving a hand. Nolan sunk into his chair in front of the desk and indicated House sit too.

“Maybe start from the beginning.”

So House recounted what had happened, voice going hoarse as he recalled Chase’s depressive view of himself and the kiss.

“Alright,” Nolan held up his hand, “I don’t need the grisly details, skip to what happened after the kiss.” House sighed and finished the story. “So you haven’t spoken to him since.”

House ran a hand over his face. “No, I came here. I…I can’t hurt him but how can I let him down gently without hurting him?”

Nolan considered. “I understand your concern about Chase’s emotional well-being, but it may be unnecessary.” He leaned in. “My advice, talk to him.”

House huffed. “I don’t know what to say! That’s the problem!”

“Well, Greg, what do you want?”

“I told you: I don’t want a relationship with him.”

“If I recall correctly, you doubted his interest in a relationship and listed some reasons why it wouldn’t work…not an actual denial that you were interested.”

“Same difference.”

“Greg, you did kiss him.”

“Will you stop with that!”

Nolan shrugged. “Don’t look at me, you did it.”

House sighed and finally sat down. “What do I do?”

Nolan opened his mouth but then House narrowed his eyes. “No wait, I know: talk to him.”

The psychiatrist smiled, spreading his hands out in acknowledgement.

House sighed again.

…

Wishing that it had been a weekend so he could have had more time to get over his hangover and maybe talk to House before seeing him at work, Chase pushed off the wall of the elevator with a huff. Damn the man anyway for getting him drunk the night before. The sense-memory of his lips and his body pressing against Chase lingered even as he walked into the empty office.

House wasn’t in, as usual, but Chase’s heart still quivered a little. Frowning, he realized that it was early. It was rare that he was the first. He staggered over to the kitchenette and got the coffee machine going.

He’d told House that they should talk but the thing was he wasn’t sure what he could say. Whilst he was aware of his looks and knew that House wasn’t uninterested in his body, the idea of a sexual or – dare he think it romantic – relationship had always been laughable. For years Chase had contented himself with empty fantasies and carefully-hidden looks. Could that all be about to change? Had House’s move been something other than…? What? Chase had turned it over and over in his head. What possible reason could he have had? Drunken loneliness? If nothing else, House had proven quite able to find solutions to that particular problem. He definitely didn’t need Chase for that.

Foreman came in and Chase was glad he’d thought of an excuse beforehand. An all-nighter with college graduates was not flattering but hey, why shouldn’t you make use of your reputation every now and again? True to form, Foreman took this explanation at face value and left him to hug his coffee miserably.

The day progressed in a typical way, House limping in around 11, getting into an argument with Foreman, insulting them all – including man-whore Chase – and then retreating to his office to play video games. Pleased that they seemed to have kept their normal interactions, Chase left it alone during the day, going about his business grouchily but without any sign that he had unfinished business with the boss. He received a page from the man himself towards the end of the day and went dutifully.

House’s shoulders were tense but he looked straight at Chase when he entered the office.

“How’re you feeling?”

Chase’s almost tripped from surprise but he managed to make it to the desk without falling on his face.

“I’m fine.” He replied slowly, suspiciously. “You?”

“Fine.” House answered lightly, before coughing. “So…we should… do…that talking thing.”

Chase blinked. “Are you nervous?”

House scoffed. “No. _You’re_ nervous.”

Despite the awkwardness, Chase felt himself smile. House saw it and huffed. “So, we kissed.”

“We did.” Chase did not point out that House had been the instigator, deducing that it would not go over well. When House didn’t say anything else, he ventured cautiously. “It was good.” Those sharp blue eyes met his and he felt his heart-rate increase. Feeling bolder, he added. “One could even say: great.”

“Well, I am honored by your high opinion of it.” House rejoined, though there was no bite.

His gaze only intensified though and Chase began to feel a little hot under the collar. “Uh, maybe we could have this discussion somewhere that’s not here?”

House’s head tilted a little, eyes narrowing. Feeling like he’d given enough consideration already, Chase did not explain his discomfort. House saw anyway and his eyebrows rose.

“It’s just this room…” Chase blurted. Coughing, he avoided looking directly at that piercing stare. “Has some, uh, it’s been in some, uh…”

Getting the idea, House felt his face heat up even as blood rushed downwards. He cleared his throat. “Then let’s get out of here.”

They went to Chase’s apartment, driving separately. Once inside, House looked around with cursory interest before stating flatly. “We were drunk.”

Chase took off his jacket and threw it onto the back of the couch. “We were.”

“And you were upset.”

Chase took a step closer, trying to figure out where House was going. He swallowed. “I was.”

This time House stepped forward and suddenly they were very close together, Chase tilting his head up a little, voice hoarse. “Maybe we need a second go, to see if it was a fluke or not.” Close enough that they could feel each other’s breath, they inched even nearer.

“Good idea.” House mumbled before their lips met again. It was just as good, better, than before; Chase’s whole body came alive, nerve endings lighting up all over the place as his fingers tightened reflexively on House’s arms. The kiss deepened and strong arms wrapped around him, pulling him flush against House. Chase’s hands climbed up to House’s neck and shoulders, sliding up the back of his neck into his hair. House grunted, pushing in even more, one hand reaching Chase’s ass. Breath catching, Chase pulled away a little, head feeling light. They panted for a minute, still closely intertwined.

“Not a fluke. Empirically proven.” House rasped and Chase nodded gently. House kissed him again before drawing back. “We don’t to talk, just more kissing.”

Having recovered his wits a little, Chase joked. “Dr. House, are you trying to seduce me?”

House stared at him. “Seriously? You’ve seen _The Graduate_ but not _Lord of the Rings_?”

Chase frowned and House tutted some more, muttering something like ‘unbelievable’ under his breath.

Chase huffed, reaching up. “Just shut up and kiss me.”

It still came as a surprise when House did.

House had never considered the idea of ending up in Chase’s bed and even when he was in it, wasn’t giving it much thought. He was way too distracted for that. Any doubts or insecurities had been kissed, squeezed and rubbed away as they’d grappled with each other, tearing off clothes and touching everywhere they could. Still tasting salt on his tongue, House panted and moaned as Chase repaid the favor, mouth wet and warm, fingers eager. House was lost in pleasure and came hard, stars flooding his vision so it was almost completely white. He closed his eyes and lay in the sensation for a time, vaguely aware of a weight next to him but not particularly bothered. Sometime later, he felt soft lips under his jaw, against his neck. Not insistent, just soft. He sighed; it was nice. Humming, he shifted so those lips found his. Chase’s body was warm as it pressed against him, a pleasant weight bracketing him.

Eventually the afterglow began to fade and the dark thoughts crept back in.

“It doesn’t have to be anything.” Chase surprised him by saying.

House cleared his throat, silently thanking the other man for not looking at him. “That what you want?”

Chase’s breath puffed against his chest and House found himself holding him a little closer. “I want to be close to you: like this and maybe, other stuff. But I know you don’t think about me the same way.”

“What other stuff?” House asked, carefully avoiding the bald admission.

Running his fingers lightly over House’s chest, Chase murmured. “Domestic stuff, spending time together just, being together.”

“Like dating?”

Chase was quiet for a while before he whispered. “That’s what I dream about.”

The shard of pain in his voice cut into House’s chest and his arm twitched, smushing Chase even more against him. Chase turned his face into House, who brought his other arm up, hugging him properly, fiercely.

He forced himself to ask. “Are you sure you’re not just lonely?”

“Are you?” Chase rejoined, voice sounding a little wet. House’s hand slipped into his hair and he began to massage his skull in little circles. “House.” Chase whispered and House pressed a kiss on the crown of Chase’s head.

“I want all that too.”

"Yeah?" Chase asked.

House smiled. "Yeah."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it for now. In the future I might do a follow up exploring where they go from there and everyone else's reactions. I also have some other fantasy ideas so this won't be the last in the series hopefully.  
Thanks for reading!  
:D

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t believe that Chase is House 2.0 but they are very similar and think in similar ways. So in another universe, why couldn’t they be together? Also, I watched the medieval fair episode again and when Chase revealed he didn’t know who Frodo was I realized that someone had to correct this travesty, why not let it be House?  
So I originally planned this to end in smut but then both of them got shy so it didn’t happen. I am planning some more chapters but will need to figure out where to go from here. House/Chase is endgame for sure.


End file.
